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Saturday, June 17, 2017

Dreaming of Brando

This was another one of those over-stuffed dreams where I was off in a hotel in another city, probably Montreal. It only became obvious a bit later on why I was there, which was as the producer of a play (or at least evening entertainment). It was one of those things where everything only came together at the last minute -- so (according to movie plot logic) it would either be an amazing triumph against all odds or a disaster. It was looking like a looming disaster.

The director only turned up on the day before. He was keeping it a secret who the lead actor was! Due to the lateness, there was going to be one rehearsal combined with the dress rehearsal. I was trying not to get too nervous over this, but obviously, this seemed like a bad idea. I don't think we even had enough copies of the script, though we had a few printed in book form, which was only moderately helpful. Marlon Brando was name-checked in the script, which I somehow knew.

I was sitting at a table in the hotel dining room and realized that the man at the next table over was Marlon Brando, and he was the secret actor. What a coup! But he hadn't rehearsed either, so I went over and tried to get him to read the book version of the script. Marlon was toward the end of the mid-point of his career, so he had shaggy white hair, but hadn't completely blimped out, like he did at the end. He looked basically like this, but slightly older and with wilder hair.

I decided to move on and hang out in a different part of the lobby where there was a large toy structure. While some children were playing with it, there was also an older German? professor-type, explaining something about its aesthetic merits. I realized that I really ought to be putting on Ibsen's A Doll's House, rather than whatever play we were going to attempt that evening. As I was leaving the hotel and walking down the fancy staircase, it came to me that the actors would probably expect me to pay for their hotel stay (this wasn't explicit in their contract, however) because of their likely humiliation on stage. It struck me that this would end up being quite an expensive adventure.

There are two anxieties very present in this dream (not even properly pushed into the subconscious realm). First, I am obviously stressing a bit over what will unfold in November, even though I have quite a bit of time to prepare. Still, unless I start locking in a few more actors, I am going to worry. But I have to remind myself that this is supposed to be a good time, with funny scripts that aren't supposed to be taken all that seriously. On those terms, it should work out reasonably well.

The other is a second-hand anxiety, fortunately. We have been extremely pressed at work, and in fact four of us stayed until 8:30 last night. I was the first of the group to leave, and I realized it was going to start raining, which hadn't really been in the forecast. In the past, I have almost made it to the bridge by the time it starts raining, but I was definitely further behind and only made it to Shuter when the first drops started falling. However, instead of being a bit of a shower, ramping up, it just poured and there was even lightning. I was definitely not happy, but there really were no good rest stops along the way nor was I close enough to the TTC to just ride the rest of the way. So I was thoroughly unhappy when I came home and obviously didn't do any shopping.

Anyway, due to all this pressure, one of my co-workers hasn't really prepared for a conference where he is due to present on Sunday. Or rather it is a joint presentation, and he will largely hand over the mike to others. But he somehow forgot to register for the conference, so he is just going to have to show up and see if he can get into his panel. The registration fee was kind of shocking, so I feel badly for him, but can't imagine letting myself fall into that situation. Of course, maybe I will have to eat my words as the various expenses pile up for my theatrical experience. Still going in with my eyes open and trying to be prepared for these eventualities should help me avoid some of the things that happened in the dream.